Long before the rise of Ultrabooks, Acer introduced its Timeline series aimed at high mobility and efficiency. Now, the Taiwanese manufacturer will be updating its Timeline lineup to the "Timeline Ultra" series with a new focus on thinness.

The Timeline Ultra 14 and Timeline Ultra 15 were showcased today at CES. Even with a thickness of only 20mm (0.787 inches), Acer was still able to include a built-in optical drive, dedicated graphics and the upcoming Intel Ivy Bridge chipset. While there are no Thunderbolt ports, the notebooks do appear to include USB 3.0, HDMI-out and Dolby Home Theater surround sound capabilities. According to Acer, the models can run for up to 8 hours when unplugged from an outlet.

In our hands-on video below, we give a first impression on the external characteristics of the 15-inch model, which houses a numpad that the 14-inch model lacks. Both models are expected to launch before the end of this first quarter, although prices remain unknown for now.